Autonomy and autonomy disturbances in self-development and psychopathology: research on motivation, attachment, and clinical process

Self-determination theory (SDT) maintains that the adequate support and satisfaction of individuals' psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness promotes the gradual unfolding of individuals' integrative tendencies, as manifested through intrinsic motivation, internalization, identity development, and integrative emotion regulation. At the same time, the thwarting of these same psychological needs and the resultant need frustration is presumed to evoke or amplify a variety of psychopathologies, many of which involve autonomy disturbances. We begin by defining what autonomy involves and how socializing agents, particularly parents, can provide a nurturing (i.e., need-supportive) environment, and we review research within the SDT literature that has shed light on various integrative tendencies and how caregivers facilitate them. In the second part of this chapter, we detail how many forms of psychopathology involve autonomy disturbances and are associated with a history of psychological need thwarting. We especially focus on internally controlling regulation in internalizing disorders; impairments of internalization in conduct disorders and antisocial behavior; and fragmented self-functioning in borderline and dissociative disorders. The role of autonomy support as an ameliorative factor in treatment settings is then discussed among other translational issues. Finally we highlight some implications of recognizing the important role of basic psychological needs for both growth-related and pathology-related processes

Governing the governors : a case study of college governance in English further education

This paper addresses the nature of governors in the governance of further education colleges in an English context (1). It explores the complex relationship between governors (people/agency), government (policy/structure) and governance (practice), in a college environment. While recent research has focused on the governance of schooling and higher education there has been little attention paid to the role of governors in the lifelong learning sector. The objective of the paper is to contribute to the debate about the purpose of college governance at a time when the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) commissioning era ends, and new government bodies responsible for further education and training, including local authorities, arrive. The paper analyses the nature of FE governance through the perspectives and experiences of governors, as colleges respond to calls from government for greater improvement and accountability in the sector (LSIS, 2009a). What constitutes creative governance is complex and controversial in the wider framework of regulation and public policy reform (Stoker, 1997; Seddon, 2008). As with other tricky concepts such as leadership, professionalism and learning, college governance is best defined in the contexts, cultures and situations in which it is located. College governance does not operate in a vacuum. It involves governors, chairs, principals, professionals, senior managers, clerks, community, business and wider agencies, including external audit and inspection regimes. Governance also acts as a prism through which national education and training reforms are mediated, at local level. While governing bodies are traditionally associated with the business of FE - steering, setting the tone and style, dealing with finance, funding, audit and procedural matters – they are increasingly being challenged to be more creative and responsive to the wider society. Drawing on a recent case study of six colleges, involving governors and key policy stakeholders, this paper explores FE governance in a fast changing policy environment

Attachment Style: How Pre-Adoptive Trauma Influences International Adoptees

An individual’s attachment style influences many aspects of his life, including emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and social development. Attachment style is largely dependent upon both the quality and quantity of care a child receives from a caregiver in the earliest stages of life. Children who have been adopted internationally may have been exposed to challenges posed by inadequate caregiving or resources, which includes malnutrition, poor medical attention, and instances of abuse, neglect, or deprivation. Because of these adverse experiences, international adoptees may be at risk of developing attachment disorders, experiencing behavioral issues, and struggling socially and psychologically. However, many of these challenges can be overcome with parental sensitivity and positive familial relationships

Fostering a Child's Foundational Skills Leading to Self-Determination: A Case Study of a Refugee Family, a Head Start Agency, and their Family-Professional Partnership

This qualitative case study investigated and described the views of both Head Start staff and a refugee family regarding adult fostering of foundational skills leading to self-determination in a young child at risk for disability as well as how these adults worked together in partnership. Chapter 1 provides an overview of this dissertation. It discusses background information, describes the purpose of the dissertation, and establishes the scope of the study. Chapter 1 explains that chapter 2 presents the part of the study that investigated the adult behaviors (in home and Head Start) that influence a child's foundational skills leading to later self-determination while chapter 3 focuses on the part of the study that investigated the relationship between the adults at home and the adults at Head Start. Chapter 2 presents research on how the refugee family and Head Start staff influenced the foundational skills leading to later self-determination of a 4-year old boy at risk for disability. This study reports that adult expectations and practices related to protection, intervention, and affective response in his home environment differed greatly from those in his Head Start environment; he had difficulty traversing the parallel worlds; but his foundational skills improved in both settings during the 4-month duration of this study. This chapter situates the study in the literature; outlines the research methods; presents and discusses the findings; and highlights implications for practice, research, and policy. Chapter 3 presents research on the relationship between the Head Start staff and the family discussed in chapter 2. Children from refugee families' attendance at Head Start agencies provides the opportunity for Head Start staff to foster trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnerships characterized by comprehensive two-way communication to support child and family outcomes. Such partnerships could help launch refugee families as partners in their children's education in the U.S. and ultimately improve family and child outcomes. This chapter provides a review of the relevant literature, describes the methods for the study, presents and discusses the findings, and details numerous implications for practice, policy, and research. Chapter 4 concludes this dissertation by rejoining the two parts of the study discussed in chapters 2 and 3 and then proposing a future research agenda. After connecting the previous chapters, it presents a framework to illustrate how future research can systematically build upon this exploratory research. Then, it connects this research framework with several future studies and explains how the studies connect to the case study conducted for this dissertation

Virtual pedagogical model: development scenarios

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Examining Classroom Contexts in Support of Culturally Diverse Learners’ Engagement: An Integration of Self-Regulated Learning and Culturally Responsive Pedagogical Practices.

Research shows that culturally diverse students are often disengaged in multicultural classrooms. To address this challenge, literatures on self-regulated learning (SRL) and culturally responsive teaching (CRT) both document practices that foster engagement, although from different perspectives. This study examined how classroom teachers at schools that enrol students from diverse cultural communities on the West Coast of Canada built on a Culturally Responsive Self-Regulated Learning Framework to design complex tasks that integrated SRL pedagogical practices (SLPPs) and culturally-responsive pedagogical practices (CRPPs) to support student engagement. Two elementary school teachers and their 43 students (i.e., grades 4 and 5) participated in this study. We used a multiple, parallel case study design that embedded mixed methods approaches to examine how the teachers integrated SRLPPs and CRPPs into complex tasks; how culturally diverse students engaged in each teacher’s task; and how students’ experiences of engagement were related to their teachers' practices. We generated evidence through video-taped classroom observations, records of classroom practices, students’ work samples, a student self-report, and teacher interviews. Overall findings showed: (1) that teachers were able to build on the CR-SRL framework to guide their design of an CR-SRL complex task; (2) benefits to students’ engagement when those practices were present; and (3) dynamic learner-context interactions in that student engagement was situated in features of the complex task that were present on a given day. We close by highlighting implications of these findings, limitations, and future directions.   &nbsp